My Soul card is a Reaper

Grand Arena, Eternals Institute of Arcana, Aclein City, Northern Qudour;

"Ruby, dodge"

A black lotus was seen dodging the energy arrow fired by Mia. Azzy was flying on top of the lotus and Mia was standing on one of the top branches.

The lotus reacted right away and tilted to the left. As the arrow missed, Azzy crossed his arms to the chest and spoke, "You are wasting too much time in aiming the bow, Mia."

The black lotus was nearing the 50ft tall Oak Tree.

"I know…" Mia calmly replied to him. Just when their distance is reduced to just 5 meters, she suddenly motioned her left arm downwards and her right arm reached her back, pulling out of a gun. She shot an energy bullet.

By the time she clicked the trigger, the distance was only 3 meters. In theory, the speedy bullet would pierce Azzy's chest in a fraction of a second.

However, to her surprise, Azzy raised his arm covered in the layer of translucent natural energy and blocked it before throwing out a punch with his left hand, just a fraction of a second later.

The black lotus then passed the Oak Tree while Mia clutched her stomach in pain. The leaves of the tree rustled but then Mia said, "Don't."

The Oak Tree stayed still and rooted itself onto the ground like it was ordered by Mia.

After flying straight for a few more seconds, the black lotus made a u-turn and stopped under Azzy's command.

He stared at the tree and nodded, "it was good at following the commands. Sometimes, not helping is just as good as helping."

Mia stood straight once again and turned around. She descended onto a lower branch before leaping to the branch on the other side. She then raised her head to look at Azzy, "I thought I would draw in the enemy to close range and take them by surprise but didn't expect that you would stop it."

"I'm not underestimating you, Mia. That's why I was prepared to face any unexpected situations like earlier." Azzy replied to her. 

Just when Mia thought it is good, Azzy added, "The biggest flaw in your surprise attack is the limited power behind the bullet. I think you should consider our instructor's advice on focusing on either gun or bow."

"No, only dual wielding will give me a chance to face platinum grade users like you." Mia was stubborn in her decision to use a bow and arrow as her main weapon, and the gun as her secondary weapon. She added, "As for the firepower of the gun, it will be upgraded once my new weapon is successfully developed."

"Well, I hope the delivery will arrive soon. After all, there's only a month away from the preliminaries." Azzy thrusts his hand forward, conjuring a large palm as big as himself, filled with natural energy. "Take this…"

"Artiz, down." Mia hollered in hurry.

The oak tree shrank itself at a rapid pace, trying to evade the incoming attack but the speed of the energy palm was found to be greater. 

The top part of the Oak Tree was hit with a destructive force. It was entirely uprooted from the ground as it fell down, making Mia lose her balance.

Thankfully, she reacted in time and jumped onto the ground. 

The black lotus stopped flying once again as Azzy looked down at Mia who landed on the ground, "wrong move. You didn't consider the distance between us. You should have tried destroying the attack, instead of dodging."

Mia glanced at her Arcana, "are you alright, Artiz?"

The leaves rustled once again and the tree's roots dug into the ground once again before the rest of the tree managed to get back to its initial position.

"Oh, that's new," Azzy stared at the tree. Something clicked in his mind, "why didn't I think of that?"

Before Mia speaks anything, he said in a loud tone, "Mia, until now, you haven't used your Arcana's flexibility to your advantage."

"Eh?" A trace of surprise appeared on Mia. "How?"

"Think like this. Your Arcana can grow up to two hundred feet with the nourishment from the water source, right? What if it bends… let's say about 120 degrees and use its trunk to sweep the enemies while catching them off guard with the branches?" Azzy told her what is on his mind. He doesn't know whether it works or not, but he could imagine the scenario.

"Hmm…" Mia took the advice seriously and communicated with her Arcana. 

After a brief silence, she replied, "Artiz says it is possible but it will become vulnerable. The roots are its source of life, you know."

"Well, you aren't participating alone. I can temporarily upgrade its defense with natural energy. One of my Arcana can also stay behind to guard it." Azzy reminded her that she had the backing of her teammates.

"I guess I need to work harder," As Mia nodded in understanding, a voice interrupted them, "Ms. Leveret, Azrael… battle more and talk less."

Azzy glanced towards the source. His biological mother, Izora Crescent was standing there with an unpleasant expression.

Mia's body stiffened right away as soon as she heard the voice. Meanwhile, Azzy shook his head and sighed inwardly. "It would have been a lot better if mom never come into my life."

Six weeks ago, Affea Mansion was visited by Vesyrn Garcia and Izora Crescent.

As soon as they finish their two weeks of honeymoon, they seemed to receive an S-grade mission to safeguard Azzy. All they know is that Azzy is a descendant of the Crescent clan who inherited the powers of Aelius Crescent.

Izora also saw the death scythe on Azzy, back then. But, still, she couldn't understand the purpose of her mission.

Even if Azzy's potential is extraordinarily high and is a descendant of the Death Clan, it doesn't make sense that she and her husband were sent to protect the boy. After all, Vesyrn is the heir of the Death Clan who will probably take the position of monarch within a hundred years. Why should he give security to a subordinate?

As for Azzy's Arcana, there were other clan members who also possessed the dark scythe. In her view, it isn't a big deal to possess it. So, the thought of Azzy being the heir never crossed her mind.

Not to mention they were just married and would like to live together in a separate house. It is quite embarrassing to live with Oakley and his family of four.

With how Vesyrn is happily helping out at Oakley's clinic and integrating into the family so easily, Izora was feeling troubled. 

So, she was quite moody these days.

Ever since she replaced Arley Blood as the combat instructor for Class Zero, Azzy tried to get bond with his mother but not only did she put up a wall between them but also treats him coldly, just the same as everyone.

Maybe, more than a year ago, Azzy was desperate to meet his parents and live with them but after receiving lots of love from this foster family and his friends, he was no longer the same as before.

Now that he was in his rebellious phase, he wasn't happy with his mother's behavior.

At school, not only did she keep an eye on him at all times but he was constantly lectured by the actions of the disciplinary committee.

Outside the school, she follows him and Claire on their date. Unlike Aria, she wasn't great at hiding her presence. So, the Saturday dates weren't comfortable.

When he confronts her regarding the matter, she even advises him that he was too young to have a relationship.

If it was anyone else, Azzy would have directly told them to not interfere in his daily life but he doesn't know what to do as she's his mother.

On the other hand, he likes being in the company of Vesyrn. His father was filled with optimism, patience, and is very humble in nature.

Back to the Arena, Azzy and Mia finished their daily sparring and returned to the stands while Estella and Gideon made their way to the Arena.

"Senior, here…" Little Flora handed a couple of towels to the both of them to wipe off their sweat.

Meanwhile, Azzy gets an additional bottle filled with glucose water. "Thanks," He ruffled her hair as he took the bottle. 9-year old Flora grinned in response.

It's something everyone is familiar with. So, no one cared about it too much. The only one who appeared to care about it is a grade-3 little girl who transferred to the academy, six weeks ago. "Hmpf, it's not like he has tried his best or anything.. Nothing but a half-hearted fight."